Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
A presentation I gave to an introductory sociology course at Madison Area Technical College on December 10, 2012.
Citation preview
Media Environments and the Dilemma of Collective Action in the Egyptian RevolutionAlexander HannaDepartment of Sociology, UW-Madison
About me4th year PhD student in sociology
Background in computer science and math
Son of Egyptian immigrants
My research agenda● How people use various media to overcome
collective action problems in authoritarian environments○ e.g: Egypt, China
● Political elites and their followers in social media○ Large-scale Twitter collections surrounding 2010,
2012 elections
Today's talk
Media environments and the dilemma of collective action in the Egyptian revolution
Chronology of the Egyptian revolution (1/3)● June 6, 2010:
Death of Khaled Said
● Dec. 17, 2010: Self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi, Tunisia protests begin
Image Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/17/arab-spring-end-anyone-guess
Chronology of Egyptian revolution (2/3)
● Jan 14, 2011: Pres. of Tunisia, Ben Ali, steps down
● Jan 25: First major protests in Egypt
● Jan 27: Net turned off
● Jan 28: "Friday of Rage"
Chronology of Egyptian revolution (3/3)
● Feb 2, 2011: Net turned back on, Battle of the Camel
● Feb 11, 2011: Mubarak resigns, army assumes power
Dilemma of collective actionPeople won't participate in collective action (like a protest) unless they have guarantees that others will.
Otherwise, they will have no incentive to participate, will "free ride" on the contributions of others (Mancur Olson)
Examples of the dilemma of collective action● Contributing to Wikipedia (a public good)
○ Why contribute to Wikipedia when others are going to do it?
● Prisoner's dilemma
● How to resolve?○ Communication!
Egypt's political environment● Over 60 years of
dictatorial rule, and under colonial rule for much longer.
● Laws prohibiting protesting.
● How can people communicate for protests?
Image source: http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/04/28/146997.html
Bringing in the media environment● Different types of media that compete for
audience attention.
● In the US○ TV: CNN, Fox, MSNBC○ Newspapers: NY Times, Washington Post,
Wisconsin State Journal○ Radio: NPR○ Internet: Facebook, Twitter, blogs
Egyptian Media Environment -- in transition● Old media environment
○ State-controlled TV and newspapers control what people see, hear, and think
○ Nothing critical of the regime, all broadcasting to audience
● New media environment○ Introduction of private TV, both regional and
domestic○ Private newspapers○ Social media○ Many different voices, audience can respond
Old Egyptian Media Environment
New Egyptian Media Environment
Research question
Can new media, like regional satellite television and social media, help activists overcome dilemma of collective action?
Example 1: SherifSherif hears about protests only on state TV.
State TV says the protests will be small, filled with thugs and criminals.
Example 2: NanaNana hears about protests in Cairo and Tunisia from al-Jazeera (AJ) and also hears state TV's story. AJ is supportive of the protests.
Example 3: AlaaAlaa watches AJ and state TV, and also communicates with his friends on Twitter and Facebook, seeing what they are going to do.
Image source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaa_Abd_El-Fattah
Who is most likely to protest?
Methods of research1. Network and textual analysis
2. Interviews
3. Content analysis of TV
Why these methods?
Full survey results at www.iri.org/sites/default/files/2011 June 5 Survey of Egyptian Public Opinion, April 14-27, 2011_0.pdf
Data for network and textual analysisDataset of over 12 million tweets collected on #jan25 and other Egypt keywords from Jan 25 to March 1
Need to identify who people are speaking to and what they are saying without having to read every single tweet
Network analysis● Understanding who
speaks to who● Who is the most
central?● Are there particular
groups of people who speak to each other constantly?
Textual analysis
Who talksabout going to protest?
InterviewsTalking to people who used social media, watched different types of TV, and participated in the revolution on January 25 and 28.
Looking at a variety of different cities - Cairo, Alexandria, Suez, Mahalla
Planning to do this next year
Content analysis of TVAnalyzing state TV and regional satellite TV for protesting framing and cues.
vs.
Conclusion
Need to better understand how people respond to media and how it affects how they participate in collective action.
